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Loving my iBook G4!

Gamer9430

Gamer9430

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 22, 2014
2,248
1,405
USA
yesterday I got my beautiful iBook G4 from LowEndMac for $45, and boy was it a good buy. The computer arrived slightly dirty, but a little while of cleaning went a long way, because it looked really nice after. This is the 12in model and it has a 1.33GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, which at some point I'll upgrade to 1.5. Currently it has 10.4.11 Tiger installed, and will be upgraded to 10.5.8 Leopard at some point, but for now, Tiger serves it's purpose. This computer will serve as taking notes in class along side my iPad, thus I will use the iBook when I need a little more power. There is one major issue with this computer though and that is the battery life. The battery has 296 cycles on it, is 105 months old, and holds about 55% of its original capacity. Thus I'm left with about 2~2:30 of battery time. If anyone can find a cheap battery on Amazon/eBay please let me know so I can get it. I'm not aiming to dump a lot into this computer, so the cheaper the better.

I can already tell this computer is going to be fun!
 
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Gamer9430 said:
yesterday I got my beautiful iBook G4 from LowEndMac for $45, and boy was it a good buy. The computer arrived really dirty, but a little while of cleaning went a long way, because it went from looking like I pulled it out of the trash to being nice looking. This is the 12in model and it has a 1.33GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, which at some point I'll upgrade to 1.5. Currently it has 10.4.11 Tiger installed, and will be upgraded to 10.5.8 Leopard at some point, but for now, Tiger serves it's purpose. This computer will serve as taking notes in class along side my iPad, thus I will use the iBook when I need a little more power. There is one major issue with this computer though and that is the battery life. The battery has 296 cycles on it, is 105 months old, and holds about 55% of its original capacity. Thus I'm left with about 2~2:30 of battery time. If anyone can find a cheap battery on Amazon/eBay please let me know so I can get it. I'm not aiming to dump a lot into this computer, so the cheaper the better.

I can already tell this computer is going to be fun!
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I had a 12" iBook for awhile. They are fun little Macs. Enjoy yours!
 
ptdebate said:
Whoa, eyoungren said something positive about an iBook! :p
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LOL!

I never said they were bad Macs. ;-)

They just aren't my cup of tea.

Also, the OP is happy with his new purchase. I see no need to rain on his parade just because of my preferences. :D
 
eyoungren said:
LOL!

I never said they were bad Macs. ;-)

They just aren't my cup of tea.

Also, the OP is happy with his new purchase. I see no need to rain on his parade just because of my preferences. :D
Click to expand...

Trust me, if I had to actually take one of those apart--or even a PBG412--I'd be bitter forever. :mad:

But that's mainly because I suck at taking things apart. Hence why I love my new DA G4 so much--a child could perform virtually any basic replacement on one of those.
 
Those little 12" iBook/PowerBooks are cute. :)
I saw a 12" PowerBook on a fleemarket a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I didn't ask about the price since I was pretty sure I didn't had enough money on me anyway.
 
eyoungren said:
LOL!

I never said they were bad Macs. ;-)

They just aren't my cup of tea.

Also, the OP is happy with his new purchase. I see no need to rain on his parade just because of my preferences. :D
Click to expand...

trust me, im fully aware of how difficult these things are to take apart. And my computer parades get rained on by my parents frequently so...

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proxyLain said:
Those little 12" iBook/PowerBooks are cute. :)
I saw a 12" PowerBook on a fleemarket a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I didn't ask about the price since I was pretty sure I didn't had enough money on me anyway.
Click to expand...

that is one of the reasons I bought this over the 14in model. I love the way the keyboard is like the size of the bottom of the computer, going edge to edge. I especially like that with the metallic look of the PowerBook G4.

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ptdebate said:
Trust me, if I had to actually take one of those apart--or even a PBG412--I'd be bitter forever. :mad:

But that's mainly because I suck at taking things apart. Hence why I love my new DA G4 so much--a child could perform virtually any basic replacement on one of those.
Click to expand...

I find the PoweMac G5's very easy to fix, since everything is very organized and easy to get to. Also, just about everything is removable, accept for the most important parts like the PSU and processors (or at least not easily)
 
I bought an iBook G4(my first one) a few weeks ago, and I think that fun is a very apt description of them.

I have 12" Powerbook, but I've been finding myself packing the iBook recently just as much as the Powerbook. Sure, the iBook isn't as fast(my PB has an SSD, so it flies) but it gets the job done quite well.

Congratulations on your new purchase! I just hope that the newness doesn't wear off if you have to take it apart :). Fortunately, the RAM is(relatively) easy to access and I think only requires removing 4 screws(or 3 if one is missing as it was on mine :rolleyes: ). If you don't have an Airport card already, I'd suggest holding off installing it until you upgrade the RAM as you will have to remove it to get to the RAM(admittedly not a big deal).

Back in the PowerPC days, I remember Ken Rockwell-a prominent and (in)famous photography blogger-going on and on about how much he loved is 12" iBook. He claimed at the time that he could get just as much work done on it as he good his G4 Tower(not sure of the model, but I think probably a Sawtooth since he said he bought it in 2000 and it had 2gb of RAM) and took it everywhere with him. Back in the fall of this year, he mentioned the iBook again, and claimed that even though he's moved onto a Macbook Pro for on the road use and a new model Mac Pro for the office/studio, he COULD still do everything he needed to on his then 10 year old iBook.

Of course, Ken Rockwell also somewhat known for his hyperbole(hence his "infamous" reputation) but I do think he has a point-a 12" iBook with the RAM maxed will still run a Photoshop CS2 and a lot of other programs of similar age to the computer just fine. I have Photoshop CS2, CS4, and CS6 scattered across various computers, and for a photographer there's really nothing significant that CS6 can do that CS2 can NOT do.
 
proxyLain said:
Those little 12" iBook/PowerBooks are cute. :)
I saw a 12" PowerBook on a fleemarket a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I didn't ask about the price since I was pretty sure I didn't had enough money on me anyway.
Click to expand...

Always, always, always ask! All they can do is say no. You shouldn't be making the decision for a seller...let them do it. I am amazed at what I have been able to achieve merely because I took the time to ask.

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bunnspecial said:
Back in the PowerPC days, I remember Ken Rockwell-a prominent and (in)famous photography blogger-going on and on about how much he loved is 12" iBook. He claimed at the time that he could get just as much work done on it as he good his G4 Tower(not sure of the model, but I think probably a Sawtooth since he said he bought it in 2000 and it had 2gb of RAM) and took it everywhere with him. Back in the fall of this year, he mentioned the iBook again, and claimed that even though he's moved onto a Macbook Pro for on the road use and a new model Mac Pro for the office/studio, he COULD still do everything he needed to on his then 10 year old iBook.

Of course, Ken Rockwell also somewhat known for his hyperbole(hence his "infamous" reputation) but I do think he has a point-a 12" iBook with the RAM maxed will still run a Photoshop CS2 and a lot of other programs of similar age to the computer just fine. I have Photoshop CS2, CS4, and CS6 scattered across various computers, and for a photographer there's really nothing significant that CS6 can do that CS2 can NOT do.
Click to expand...

This is the key..to ensure you run software written in the era of the specific machine. If a system could do photo editing with CS2 back in 2002 there's no reason that same machine couldn't do that same task using the same software today. It might not do it as fast as a new system but it will continue to do what it always did. The exception being web browsing as web sites are changing behind the scenes.
 
I have a few iBook G4s; the one I currently used is my beloved, original iBook G4 (800Mhz) w/640MB of RAM and a 150GB HD. I love this little laptop!
 
From 2008-2010, I had the same model iBook as yours as my main machine and I never had a single complaint about it - it handled anything I threw at it. Fond memories of playing Halo for hours on end, AIM/MSN chats and simple GIMP works. :) These days, my latest revision 12" PowerBook struggles a bit with some websites and video playback, so I'm sure those iBooks have also slowed down quite a bit, but I'd be willing to bet they're still sufficient for simple tasks and the occasional heavy lifting duty.

For what it's worth, when I purchased mine it came with the stock 512 MB of RAM and Leopard installed. I maxed it out to 1.5 GB, and there was a slight performance improvement - but when I downgraded to Tiger, it was an almost day and night difference in how much more responsive and smooth it ran - just a much more pleasant experience overall. :apple: Hope you enjoy your new "toy", these old PowerPC machines still have some life left in 'em. :D
 
PowerMac G4 MDD said:
If you don't mind it being 3rd party, those Chinese adapters are very cheap. You could get one for as little as $5.
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I have a couple floating around-I have one for my Pismo(different plug from later PPC laptops) and I think two of the ones for later computers.

Although I prefer genuine Apple chargers(and have several lying around), I use the Chinese ones interchangeably. In fact, they're often what I throw in my backpack in lieu of a genuine Apple charger, as I know that's a high wear-and-tear environment and Apple isn't making the real thing anymore.

The downsides are that you don't get the ring LED where it plugs into the computer to indicate charging status, and the cord from the brick is very short. They also tend to come with fairly short wall cords, although the wall cord is the same generic 2-pin type used on virtually all PC laptop chargers. If you want a longer cord, you won't have any trouble finding one(and may even get one for free if you ask around for dead laptop chargers).

Also, not that this is relevant to you, but I've found that the genuine Apple 65w chargers will NOT work with my Titanium Powerbook-the plug insulation is larger in diameter than the plug on the 45w charger that came with the Ti, and the hinge just blocks the 65W ones from plugging in. The plug insulation on the generic chargers is the same diameter as the 45w chargers, and thus they work fine with a TiBook. This is another reason why I choose to keep one in my backpack, as I don't have to worry about swapping out chargers if I'm carrying the Ti.
 
bunnspecial said:
I have a couple floating around-I have one for my Pismo(different plug from later PPC laptops) and I think two of the ones for later computers.

Although I prefer genuine Apple chargers(and have several lying around), I use the Chinese ones interchangeably. In fact, they're often what I throw in my backpack in lieu of a genuine Apple charger, as I know that's a high wear-and-tear environment and Apple isn't making the real thing anymore.

The downsides are that you don't get the ring LED where it plugs into the computer to indicate charging status, and the cord from the brick is very short. They also tend to come with fairly short wall cords, although the wall cord is the same generic 2-pin type used on virtually all PC laptop chargers. If you want a longer cord, you won't have any trouble finding one(and may even get one for free if you ask around for dead laptop chargers).

Also, not that this is relevant to you, but I've found that the genuine Apple 65w chargers will NOT work with my Titanium Powerbook-the plug insulation is larger in diameter than the plug on the 45w charger that came with the Ti, and the hinge just blocks the 65W ones from plugging in. The plug insulation on the generic chargers is the same diameter as the 45w chargers, and thus they work fine with a TiBook. This is another reason why I choose to keep one in my backpack, as I don't have to worry about swapping out chargers if I'm carrying the Ti.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I bought a Chinese adapter because I needed an extra to charge stationary iBooks. I have never actually taken it anywhere before, nor have I used it (it's saving the battery on one of my other iBooks). I am a little scared of sketchy adapters (xD), but I am sure it would be fine to use this at school or something, so I don't put wear on my Apple one.

Yeah, it sucks that you don't get the indicator light on 3rd-party adapters. I have also found that my specific adapter takes a bit more force to plug into the jack. Even though iBook adapters are obviously not MagSafe, it's better if the adapter isn't wedged into the jack like that.

Interesting thing you pointed out about the TiBook w/ those adapters. I have a TiBook, but I suppose I have never put a 65 watt adapter in it before.
 
bunnspecial said:
I have a couple floating around-I have one for my Pismo(different plug from later PPC laptops) and I think two of the ones for later computers.

Although I prefer genuine Apple chargers(and have several lying around), I use the Chinese ones interchangeably. In fact, they're often what I throw in my backpack in lieu of a genuine Apple charger, as I know that's a high wear-and-tear environment and Apple isn't making the real thing anymore.

The downsides are that you don't get the ring LED where it plugs into the computer to indicate charging status, and the cord from the brick is very short. They also tend to come with fairly short wall cords, although the wall cord is the same generic 2-pin type used on virtually all PC laptop chargers. If you want a longer cord, you won't have any trouble finding one(and may even get one for free if you ask around for dead laptop chargers).

Also, not that this is relevant to you, but I've found that the genuine Apple 65w chargers will NOT work with my Titanium Powerbook-the plug insulation is larger in diameter than the plug on the 45w charger that came with the Ti, and the hinge just blocks the 65W ones from plugging in. The plug insulation on the generic chargers is the same diameter as the 45w chargers, and thus they work fine with a TiBook. This is another reason why I choose to keep one in my backpack, as I don't have to worry about swapping out chargers if I'm carrying the Ti.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Unfortunately the 45W from my iBook G3 Clamshell doesn't fit, the pin on it is slightly bigger.

A few of the reasonably priced genuine Apple ones on eBay are only a few dollars more than the third-party ones, and they do provide that nice LED charging indicator.

I want to make sure I'm getting the right one for it though, does anyone have any tips for me in that regard?
 
redheeler said:
Good to know. Unfortunately the 45W from my iBook G3 Clamshell doesn't fit, the pin on it is slightly bigger.

A few of the reasonably priced genuine Apple ones on eBay are only a few dollars more than the third-party ones, and they do provide that nice LED charging indicator.

I want to make sure I'm getting the right one for it though, does anyone have any tips for me in that regard?
Click to expand...

The TiBook takes a 45W charger. Two models fit: Either the white iBook charger ( this is what it shipped with) or the 2001 7mm yoyo charger. The 1999 yoyo charger has a 9.5mm jack and this fits the Pismo right back to the 1400 series.
 
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